Group Seeks Cross-Party Ticket for 2008 Elections

JUDY WOODRUFF: First of all, Hamilton Jordan, to you. "Unity," what does that mean? Does that mean the Democrats and the Republicans together or does it mean something outside of both these parties?

HAMILTON JORDAN: Well, let me put it this way. I went to my son's graduation this weekend, and I heard a great quote I've never heard before from Albert Einstein. It was that the greatest danger to the world is not the bad people but it's the good people who don't speak out.

We're trying to build a platform utilizing the Internet that allows the good American people to speak out about their frustration about the polarized country that we live in politically.

JUDY WOODRUFF: The Unity ticket, Doug Bailey, is that Democrats and Republicans coming together or is it something outside the parties, because the assumption is the parties aren't going to like this?

DOUG BAILEY: You know, in all probability, the party leadership won't like it. Most of the members of both parties would welcome a change in Washington's politics. I don't mean members of Congress. I mean members of the parties, the public at-large.

We're talking about a Unity ticket, which could be a Republican and a Democrat running for president, vice president, in whatever order, a Democrat first, a Republican second, or the other way around, or it could be an independent candidate who presents a Unity team, representing members of both parties.

What's happened, Judy, is that politics in Washington has become so polarized that, in fact, the city has become paralyzed; it cannot deal with the major issues, and the public knows that. And part of the problem -- part of the solution is to get the two parties talking to one another, bring them back to the middle.

JUDY WOODRUFF: But as we just indicated, Hamilton Jordan, the history is -- modern political history is that this hasn't succeeded. What makes you think you've got a shot this time?

HAMILTON JORDAN: Well, don't forget, Abraham Lincoln, who was the first third-party candidate to be elected president.

I think times are different. I say people are deeply concerned. You mentioned Ross Perot. Mr. Perot jumped into the race at the last minute, had one issue that he ran on, the budget deficit, was in and out of the race a couple of times, and still got 20 million votes, didn't have the Internet.

Here we are years later. We have the American people properly concerned about the future of our country and the world. We do have the Internet, and we do have a mechanism through this Unity ticket to draw hundreds of thousands and even millions of people together.

And so this decision -- I think what frustrates many people today is they sit back and hundreds of thousands or tens of thousands of people in Iowa and New Hampshire make decisions on behalf of both parties and we end up with candidates that don't represent the broad and general voter in the middle.

JUDY WOODRUFF: But you look at the people who have been nominated in recent years, I mean, George W. Bush. I mean, Republicans would say that he nominated the mainstream, certainly of the Republican Party. Look at the Democrats who've been nominated, John Kerry. He didn't win. Al Gore, they didn't get to the White House, but Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton represented the mainstream.

So where is the fringe candidate that's been the nominee?

DOUG BAILEY: I'm not sure I follow that question, Judy, because what we're talking about is to reach the middle of American politics, means to reach probably 60 percent of the voters. I don't mean that they'll all vote for this particular candidate or the nominee of the Unity08.com effort.

But what is true is that about 60 percent of this country is in the middle politically. And to the degree that they are given a candidate who is willing to talk about some issues other than the issues that turn on the base of the far-right or the far-left, like global climate change or energy independence or the soaring national debt.

Those are subjects that don't get any discussion in Washington, despite the fact that both parties are here. Their leadership is here, but there is no serious discussion of serious and major issues.

JUDY WOODRUFF: So give us an idea, Hamilton Jordan, of the sort of candidate you're looking for then? I mean, there are some names. There are, what, 10 or 12 names we hear regularly.

HAMILTON JORDAN: Well, those are -- we don't go into this exercise with candidates of our choosing. You know, we're going to build a platform that permits a national conversation for average people, by way of the Internet, that allows them to talk about these issues, talk about an agenda, and ultimately have an online convention that allows the people to make this decision as to who is going to run.

And when you start talking about the practicality of winning a race like that -- you've got to remember we're not talking about winning 51 percent of the vote. We're talking about winning 36, 37, 38 percent of the vote. We think that's possible in the environment that we face today in this country.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Why? I mean, what -- because I hear you saying there's frustration. And you see it...

HAMILTON JORDAN: Well, the survey you mentioned, what are the numbers, Doug? You know, you ask in a survey, "How many people are highly pleased with both political parties?" And what's the number, 3 or 4 percent? Most people...

DOUG BAILEY: "How satisfied are you?" Three percent highly satisfied; 46 percent highly dissatisfied.

Now, there's something going on here. And the public, I think, has sort of had it up to here with the way politics is conducted in this country, and particularly in Washington. And they understand that the issues that are not being treated are crucial issues for the future of this country.

They're not the wedge issues. I mean, issues like gay marriage and abortion are used to turn on the base of the parties. And they are important issues and worthy of debate, but they're not crucial to the future and the future welfare and security of the country.

JUDY WOODRUFF: But there are people who feel passionately about those issues.

HAMILTON JORDAN: Well, sure there are. But you mentioned what's different today and a long time ago, when Jimmy Carter was elected.

The difference today is that, in both parties, the very extreme elements control the nomination process. And a tiny number of people in a few states make these decisions, and we're left with these options that are increasingly not attractive to the American people.

If you had found the right candidate in 2000 or 2004, and you could have put that man or woman, given them ballot access in September of the election year, they could have won the election. There was broad dissatisfaction with the choices that the American people have.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, let me get back to the question that I put to Doug Bailey a minute ago, and that is the people who emerged, the two candidates who emerged from the process in '04, George W. Bush and John Kerry, you know, whether people like an individual candidate or not, they represented the mainstream of their parties, didn't -- I mean, isn't that the question?

HAMILTON JORDAN: I don't think -- they were not attractive to large numbers of voters in the middle.

DOUG BAILEY: And I would add that the campaigns that they ran, there's nothing wrong with this. They ran winning -- each side ran a dramatic campaign that did more to turn out their base than any campaign in history. The Democrats turned out more base voters than any Democratic campaign in history, and the Republicans did the same, and that's why they won.

But in turning out their base vote, they appealed to their base vote on terms of issues that, for the most part, the middle do not perceive as crucial issues to the country which need addressing. They still need addressing.

HAMILTON JORDAN: If people...

JUDY WOODRUFF: Let me -- I was just going to say...

HAMILTON JORDAN: Go ahead. It's your show.